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Surgeon Testimonial

Trace Curry
I am very happy to have found Dr. Curry. I have never had a doctor who makes themself so available to his patients. You email, call or post on his forum and you get an answer even on the weekends. Dr. C is very down to earth in the way he speaks to me - everything is explained in simple terms that anyone could understand. rnrnI feel like I have team support from everyone in his office, we all have the same goal in mind getting me healthy. rnrnI give Dr. C and his staff a big gold star because they are indeed super stars.rnrn
Latest Surgery Support Comments

  • Comment by TiffanyF on 5/18/07 6:14 pm
    Thanks for the add!!!! ~Tiffany~
  • Comment by Cristina S. on 3/31/07 4:11 pm
    Congratulations on your new Lap Band!
  • Comment by calgal on 3/29/07 7:04 am
    Post Date: 3/29/07 7:03 am hi, best wishes for a smooth surgery and a good recovery. see you soon on the losing side of life.... hugs, sally
Click here for the surgery support page
My stats:
5'7"  /  34 years old  / Married / trying to get pregnant
Start:310 ** Surgery:283 ** Current:265 ** Goal:175     
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Amanda's Blog
Stepping Stones to a New Me


Yet another unfill
on January 18, 2010 6:58 am
Had another 0.3cc removed today.  I woke up at 5am with a buring and tightness in my middle lower chest.  I had a PB on Saturday on some Quinoa.  Went to see the doctor today just to make sure all is well but because I may or may not be pregnant we could not look at my band under floro. 

I won't be able to take the pregnancy test until next weekend and even when I do I will not tell people until I'm through the first trimester.  So don't come asking.   This time we want to wait to tell just in case I miscarry again its hard telling people or having people check on you months later when they didn't know.  So we will wait.

Doctors orders are foods that are easy on the tummy and tums.  They think its just inflamed and needs some time to relax but so do I.  I currently only have 1.7cc in a 4cc band or at least that is what they are telling me.  I asked why I keep needing unfills.  I know one is for the weight I have gained but I guess the others could be due to stress.  Stress of getting pregnant, and other life troubles.  

I still continue to stuggle with my eating I started the Daniel Fast on Jan 11 in the hopes that getting closer to God would help me work out my thoughts and struggles I do believe it was helping.  But I am going to put it on hold for a couple days to let my belly rest.  God will understand.

Daniel Fast = All Fruits, All Veggies, Whole Grains, Nuts & Seeds,  Legumes, Soy Products, Quality Oils, Water and you can use spices.  (Kinda like a vegan diet)  Lots and lots and lots of fiber so I would add Imodium to your diet if you plan to try this.

The other thing that I've decided is I will no longer focus on that number on the scale.  When I see the Dr.  I get on the scale backward so I can't see the number.  All they tell me is if its a loss or gain (not how much).  I need to take my power back.  It's not about that number, its not about the number on my clothes,  It is about getting healthy and making good choices for me, mind, body and spirit.  If I get those in line the weight will come off but that number is just not important.  The focus is on fixing my thoughts so I stop using food as my drug.  It's hard but do-able.
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Another Unfill
on December 28, 2009 7:40 pm
Well over the weekend I had two major PBing eposides.  Got an unfill today 0.5cc.  All this weight gain I think is what is affecting my band.  I will get back to "normal" again at some point.  Just have to be kind and patient with myself right now.  I'm dealing with a lot of emotions and my way to soothe is with food.  I'm looking for other things to use instead but not having much luck finding something with a similar sensation as food gives me.

Todays unfill was one of the most painful I've ever had.  IT HURT! and Dr. Curry is the one who did it.  I've never had a painful adjustment when he has done them.  I'm amazed.  I don't know if the numbing stuff just didn't do its job or if I have built up scar tissue like Dr. C said.  But I'll tell you if this had been my first ever adjustment I don't think I would ever return it was that painful.

I do need to focus on my food choices they have been very poor.  I know I can find my way again.  I just hope it doesn't take putting all the weight back on to slap me in the face.  I am working on things but I'm starting to think my brain is getting in the way.

The weight gain is also making my ankles hurt very badly.  Never realized just how much 30lbs can affect your body.  I'm feeling it big time.
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It's working
on December 15, 2009 1:24 pm
My therapist talked to me about changing the way I rate me days.  Example: if I binge bad day, If I don't binge good day is the way I used to think about it.  Well she suggested that I consider a binge normal day.  So no matter what, binge is the starting scale for the day.  Then I rate the day based on the amount of binge.  Little, Big.  By giving my self the permission to binge and by changing my thinking from good to bad I have lessened the amount of binging going on.  The power of the binge has been removed.  Do I still binge? yes but it is less amounts of food and fewer days during the week.  I feel like I'm regaining my power.

I'm also working on just plain being kinder to myself.  Loving my body right where it is.  Would I like to loose more? of course.  But if I take the focus off the weight loss and more on the health gain and just being happy right where I am it's much less stressful.  I'm increasing my exercise, I'm finding other things to do than eat, I'm starting to take care of my needs in a different way.  What a powerful feeling this is.

I feel like I'm back on track again.  This time baby steps and progress will be made.  I may slip up even again but I now know it will be a little easier to find my way back.  I'm so glad I reached out for help and didn't just wait until it was too late.
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Trapped by Food
on December 13, 2009 8:45 pm
My eating is out of control.  I've gained 30lbs in just over a year.  It breaks my heart that I'm headed back into the place I was before surgery.  I thought surgery was the fix but it was just another band aid.  My emotions are soothed by food and I just feel like I can't stop.  I don't want to get back to that place where I feel trapped by my body.  I know it's not healthy to eat this way.  I just can't stop.  I want to get my brain back on track.  At this point it's about how I think.  I know I'm bored, lonely, sad, angry and all these intense feelings are what is standing in my way of not giving up the food as comfort.  Time for some new changes.

I feel so broken and I keep trying to fix me with food.  I feel trapped by food and starting to feel trapped by my body and thoughts.  The thoughts of food consume every moment of every day for me lately.  I think about what how and when I will eat from the moment I get up to the moment I go to sleep.  It's almost like I think about nothing else.  It is tiresome to live this way.  I truly believed that my surgery was the key but I've learned its not going to work if my brain isn't on board with everything.

I'm in therapy for food and life.  I meet with the dietitian.  I try to exercise as least 3 times a week.  I'm taking the steps but I just don't feel like I'm making progress and when I do its like 2 steps forward 3 steps back. 

Someone once said to me "no food tastes as good as thin feels" to me food is everything and it does feel better to me then thin.  Don't get me wrong thin feels good but to me food tastes better.

I know the rules, I know how to eat right, but yet my brain keeps over riding all my knowledge and sending me to a place where I overeat and eat the foods I know I should limit.

I have to say that I feel like a failure and though I know it took me more than 3 years to put all the weight on and I should be kinder to myself and know that even if it takes 10 years to take it off I'm ahead of the game.  But the fact that I've gained so much in such a short time scares me.

On the intellectual level I'm doing things right but in the moment I'm trapped by food and thoughts of food.  I will get through this.  I will find that place where I'm losing again but right now in this moment I am struggling BAD.
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A letter to my baby
on September 30, 2009 5:09 pm

Dear Tristan,

On Sunday, God took you home.  I never heard your little heartbeat. I never saw an image. I didn’t even know whether you were a little girl or boy. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love and bond with you my little angel.  I am now left with this hole and ache in my heart.  Did you have a soul yet? I feel that a piece of my soul left when I lost you.  How is it so possible to love something so much that you can hurt in ways you never knew.  I never saw your smile, I never touched your little face but you left little footprints on my heart.  I never got to hear you laugh or cry.  Now I cry for the both of us.  Each tear I cry helps to heal the hurt and loss I am experiencing.  I cry out for you.  My arms are empty.  My soul aches. I feel broken.  I feel so lost. 

I remind myself that you are in paradise with the same God that gave you to me.  The God that blessed my life with having you as a part of me in the first place.  The same God that is going to use the experience for a purpose in my life.  I don’t have the answers and I know in time they will be revealed for now I mourn, for now I cry, for now and always I will miss you my little angel.

My dearest baby you are safe in the arms of God along with your grandma and grandpa.   I picture all of you together smiling down on me.  That image warms my heart if only for a moment.  I know time will help heal the hurt I feel.  But for now I mourn you, for now I cry, for now I sit in my grief and wonder about you.  I love you my baby. 

Love,

Mommy

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All is well
on September 24, 2009 1:36 pm
Not much to report.  I'm currently 10 1/2 weeks along.  I'm uncomfortable in my own skin right now. Can't find clothes that fit right.  I want to get back to exercise but I know its going to be slow going.  I get light headed when I exercise.  Doc says its just my body's way of responding to pregnancy.  I spend way to much time online and watching TV.  I did have a scare earlier this week on the same day I got my flu shot I starting having light spotting and cramps but they were very mild and went away so doc says nothing to be concerned about at this time.  So I'm just a walking oven with a cooking human inside.  I guess no new is good news.  Thanks to those of you that check on me and actually read this stuff.
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Can't sleep
on August 25, 2009 11:56 pm
Well the last few nights I have taken about 3 hours to fall asleep.  Then I only sleep for about 3 hours at a time.  I feel like I've developed restless leg syndrome.  I just can't get comfortable when I lay down.  My hips, my legs, my back it all hurts.  Sometimes I wonder if I"m further along than 6 weeks with all things going on with me.  When I walk my ankles and hips hurt.  When I sleep things hurt.  I guess if I have to have pain and no sleep over morning sickness I'll take it.  I haven't had any morning sickness and it does not run in the family so I might be spared from that but still have to deal with the body aches.  I just want to be able to sleep cause when I can't sleep I tend to want to eat.  I'm so worried about gaining too much weight.  Since I reach my lowest weight last year I have gained 20 lbs and since the 20 lbs I've already gained 6 since I got pregnant thats one pound each week at that rate I'll gain 35-40 lbs.  Please NO!  Doc only wants me to gain 15 which means I can only gain 9 more pounds.  Because of the ankle and hip pain I don't want to exercise so I've be skipping days again.  I know exercise really does help keep me on track but its hard when your in pain.  I don't see the Doc until Sept 14 so I have to wait a couple more weeks.  I'm just worried too that if I have this much pain now what will I be like in 7-8 months.  Well if anybody has any suggestions for help with the body pain please let me know.    Plus any sleep help.  I've tried reading, meditation, TV,  all of which normally works but now nothing seems to work.  I just have to fall down exhausted to sleep I guess.  I just keep reminding myself all of this is worth it in the end - I'll finally be a mommy.
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My Story

 

Back Story:

My weight gain began right around the same time of the on set of puberty also around that time is when my father past away.  However I look back at the photos and I do not believe I had a weight problem but everyone told me I did and kept trying to put me on diets. To make things worse in 9th and 10th grade kids made fun of me for being big – they actually mooed when I would walk down the hallway. Around the age of 15 my mother and I joined nutri system I don’t remember how much I weighed before but after we were done I was down to 135lbs I was also a size 10.  People started to ask me if I was sick because I just was too thin.  Once I went off eating their pre-packaged food I started to gain weight again.  I continued to eat and gain and lose sometimes.  I tried different methods of loosing weight my own created diets, which only worked for a short period of time.  I tried weight watchers for three months and lost 4lbs.  I attempted Atkins and just couldn’t stick to it.  I attend Overeaters Anonymous meetings I just couldn’t find myself to commit to it.  I tried a supervised diet that restricted all types of flour and sugar – that was the most difficult diet I had ever tried I believe I lasted about 4 months or so and lost 50lbs, it was difficult because I had to eat at certain times and eating out was not an option.  I felt very trapped by that diet. I’ve tried a couple different miscellaneous diets since then which only last a short time then I go back to old ways.  At one point I even tried hypnosis. I know: If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.  So here I am trying what I hope will be the final change to make things right. 



 


Letter to my fat January 2007:
Dear Fat,
You have been such a comfort to me over the years, but now that I have begun to heal myself I realize you have over stayed your welcome. I do know that I invited you and leaned on you to comfort and protect me. I found out that our relationship is not healthy and it must come to an end. You take more from me than you give, you cause me to be heavy which caused my joints pain.  You cause me to think bad thoughts about myself and make me some times want to hurt myself. It is because of you that I feel people judge me regarding my size before getting to know me. I think it is you that makes me eat more sometimes – because I’m already fat so what does it matter if I keep eating. Because of you I have to pay more for clothes – big clothes cost more. I have trouble with chairs that have arms, movie theater seats and airplane seats. Did you know your killing me – you put strain on my heart and body.  I’m more likely to get certain diseases because of our relationship. You are so connected to me I know leaving won’t be easy for you or me. But it has to happen you have to go! There is no choice in the matter. I don’t like to look at you so I avoid photos and sometimes mirrors – you blur my thinking. I should hate you with all my soul, but how can I hate something that is indeed part of me. I don’t hate you – you’re just not healthy for me. When you leave I will not miss you I can promise that! Basically I feel like you’re a force of evil in my life both physically and mentally. I want to be freed from you. It is time for change you need to find a new place to live because my body is no longer for rent.  I am reclaiming me away from you.

Letter to my fat August 2007:
Dear Fat,
I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I’m starting to miss you, however I do not want you to return.  I miss you in the way you miss that guy that first broke your heart. You never really get over him but you know it’s over and not healthy to dwell on.  I used to be able to blame you for anything that went wrong in my life – its ok – I’m fat.  Well I’ve now lost about 50lbs of you; I’m starting to feel like I can no longer blame being fat for my problems.  Now I know I’m still considered fat and I still have a lot more of you to kick to the curb before I’ll even consider myself thin. However I have found that I can no longer hide behind you.  My mind is changing along with my body.  I never realized how much I blamed on being fat. Someone didn’t like me, I didn’t get the job, someone looked at me funny, someone got mad at me – it wasn’t me it was because I was fat. Well I have found out that is not true at all – it is me and that is really hard to deal with.  I have to learn to accept that I can not please everyone and everything will not go my way all the time and that has nothing to do with weight and you know what its OK because it is part of my learning process.  So not only have I had to relearn how to eat but I also have to relearn how to respond to things.  The fat me turned to food for everything.  The not as fat me still turns to food but not as much and as time goes by I will turn to food less and less, until I have found new ways to cope with emotions and stress.  Now that my identity is no longer the fat chick I’m not really sure who I am or just how I fit into the world.  I’m on a rediscovery journey.  I have really great days and I have really bad days – I found out that this makes me normal.  How do you know who you are when you feel like your identity has been taken away?  I feel naked without my fat exposed to the world – just me no excuses.  That’s so scary.  On the days when I really miss you I remind myself that you are not healthy for me.  That our breakup is going to be the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.   Getting rid of you is getting me physically healthy and dealing with what you stood for in my life will help get me mentally healthy.  So now that some of your bags are backed and have moved out I need to figure out who I am without you and get the rest of your stuff out.

 My Time Line:
2007
Jan 18 – Attended Informational Seminar
Jan 31 – Consult with Dr. Curry’s Office
Feb 12 – Pysch Eval
Feb 14 – Paperwork submitted to insurance company
Mar 1 – I’m Approved!!
Mar 8 – Nutrition Class
Mar 20 – Pre Admission Testing
Mar 30 – Surgery Date
Apr 5 - Surgery Follow Up
Apr 26 - First Fill - 1.5cc
May 24 - Second Fill - 0.5cc
Jun 7 - Third Fill - 0.5cc
Jul 11 - Fourth  Fill - 0.2cc
Sep 5 - Fifth Fill - 0.2cc
Oct 3 - Sixth fill - 0.2cc
Nov 7 - seventh fill - 0.3cc
2008
Mar 1 - eighth fill - 0.4cc
Mar 30 - 1 year anniversary
Apr 28 - ninth fill - 0.1cc
Jun 6 - Joined Fast Track
Jun 23 - first unfill - 0.2cc
2009
Jan 2 - back to basics
Mar 30 - 2 year anniversary
Jul 1 - Check in with Dr. Curry's office for pep talk
Aug 10 - unfill - 0.5cc
Dec 28 - unfill - 0.5cc
2010
Jan 18 - unfill - 0.3cc

 


 



Dec 2006 - 310 

Jan 2007 - 304.8 

Feb 2007 - 297.5 

Mar 2007 - 283.4 - Surgery 

Apr 2007 - 270.8 

May 2007 - 273.0 

Jun 2007 - 263.0 

Jul 2007 - 257.8

Aug 2007 - 254.6 

Sep 2007 - 250.6 

Oct 2007 - 246.2 

Nov 2007 - 244.2 

Dec 2007 - 246.2
Jan 2008 - 240.6
Feb 2008 - 238.6
Mar 2008 - 234.8
Apr 2008 -  236.4
May 2008 - 239.2
Jun 2008 - 237.8
Jul 2008 - 234.0
Aug 2008 - 235.4
Sep 2008 - 236.4
Oct 2008 - 240.2
Nov 2008 - 242.5
Dec 2008 - 245.5

Fast Track Results in Inches

 

 

 

 

 

6/7/08

6/27/08

7/28/08

8/18/08

Weight Loss (lbs)

 

+1

-3.5

+1

Upper Back

40.5

40

40

39

Upper Arm

15

13.25

13

13

Waist

40

38.5

38.5

29

Abdomen

55

53

52

48.5

Hips

54

52.5

52

51.75

Upper Thigh

31

29.25

29

30

Lower Thigh

26.5

23

22

23

Calf

17

17.25

16.75

16

Total Lost

 

-19

-5.5

-11.75